Events in Stoke, including Valentines Events, Chinese New Year celebrations at the Potteries Museum

Here’s a reminder of what’s going on across the city next week&hellip...

Here’s a reminder of what’s going on across the city next week…

Main events (below)

Chinese New Year

Sunday 17 February,10.30am - 4pm

Potteries Museum & Art Gallery

Celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Snake with traditional festivities including Dragon dancing, Lion dancing, Cantonese Opera and much more at our free event. For more information, call the museum on 01782 232323 or visit stokemuseums.org.uk.

Stoke Your Fires – tickets now on sale

1 to 5 March 2013

This year’s Stoke Your Fires celebrates the best of British cinema and opens with the UK festival premiere of independent British film, Pulp. There will also be screenings of Last Shop Standing, Turbulenceand Tortoise in Love, all made here in the UK, with a Q&A session with the directors. To celebrate Michael Caine’s 80th birthday in March, there will also be a day of some of his classic films and see another very British institution; Daniel Craig as 007 in Casino Royale. Come along to the very first Hush-Hush film event. What’s the film? We can’t tell you. Give yourself up to a totally live cinema experience at a mystery venue. There is also a programme of professional development workshops and networking opportunities. For more information, go to stokeyourfires.co.uk.

Craft Fair

Sunday 3 March, 10am – 3pm

Gladstone Pottery Museum

If you produce any home-made arts and crafts and would like a stall please contact Nerys Williams on 01782 235399 or email nerys.williams@stoke.gov.uk. Stalls costs £20 and admission to the fair to the public is free of charge.

Come along to our retelling of this delightful picture book. Join Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare as they try to express how much they love each other. Followed by a Valentine’s Day card-making craft activity.

Capturing the spirit of the iconic TV show Top of the Pops, Top of the Pops Live is a nostalgic interactive jukebox celebrating the greatest hits by the biggest stars in the world of pop from the 70s, 80s and 90s.

As part of the London 2012 Festival, eminent British ceramicist, Katherine Morling was commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council to create a body of work that references the incredible significance of the world famous Staffordshire Hoard.

Film fans will be able to watch three classic movies at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. The museum is showing critically acclaimed films (Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Untouchables) on the last Friday of the month inside its 300-seat Forum Theatre from Friday 25 January until March. Tickets cost £5. For more information, call 01782 232323 or visit stokemuseums.org.uk.

RESPECT Community Action Day

Monday 11 February

Sneyd Green Area

A community action day that was postponed due to severe snowstorms has been rescheduled. It is a joint campaign between the city council, police and fire service and will focus on Repington Road, Aveling Road, Arkwright Grove, Tyrell Grove and Milton Road. Skips will be available on each of the streets between 9am-2pm for residents to put their bulky household waste in, free of charge. Waste land will be cleared up, new litter bins will be installed and there will also be litter picks. The city council’s environment team will be sweeping and cleaning the area, pruning trees and treating weeds. The environmental crime team will also be out in force, tackling dog fouling and fly tipping. Crime prevention advice and free equipment will be handed out on the police bus, parked on Repington Road between 10am-4pm, and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service will be carrying out home fire safety checks. Street pastors will visit the area, as well as the Local Matters and Safer City Partnership teams.

Sign up for the Potters 'Arf now

Sunday 9 June

Are you ready for the challenge of the Potters 'Arf, one of the best half marathons in the country? Whether you're a regular potters runner or a first timer, you are all very welcome. Why not run it and raise money for charity? For more information, visit

We are delighted to announce that the British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) is back for a third time next autumn. The BCB showcases excellence and the best of contemporary practice by makers and artists across the UK, building significant partnerships with other major festivals and centres for ceramic research. For more, go to britishceramicsbiennial.com.

Also…

Green Door events

A new lottery-funded project will begin this February and will run a programme of free health and wellbeing events and activities. Green Door aims to encourage people, particularly older and disabled people, to make more use of the green spaces in the city, to improve their physical and mental wellbeing and to reduce isolation. For more information on the project and to find out what’s coming up, call01782 232236, email greendoor@stoke.gov.uk or visit stoke.gov.uk/greendoor.

Events and activities at children's centres

For information of events and activities at your local children's centre, click here.

StreetGames sessions throughout the city

StreetGames delivers free sports multi-sports coaching to young people aged 8-18 in Stoke-on-Trent. Football, basketball, dodgeball, cricket and other activities - all delivered by professional sports coaches in a fun, friendly and safe environment. There are StreetGames sessions running at various locations across the city. Click here to find a session near you or search for ‘StreetGames’ at stoke.gov.uk/events. For more information on StreetGames, visit streetgames.org and you can follow StreetGames Stoke-on-Trent on Facebook by clicking here.

Enrol now for new term of adult learning courses

A new programme of Adult and Community Learning courses has started. New courses for 2013 include Acupressure, Getting Started

with Twitter, Reiki for Personal Wellbeing, Sociology for Beginners and Yoga, plus much more. The courses can help you gain new

skills, knowledge and confidence - all in a fun friendly and informal way and in venues across the city. Click here for full list of courses

The Closer to Home Walking Network deliver a comprehensive walking programme that targets specific areas and population groups in Stoke-on-Trent. These short health walks are led by experienced volunteers, are completely free and take place every day around the city’s beautiful parks and greenways. Walks usually last between 30 and 45 minutes and are for all ages and abilities. They also have a programme of special events over the Easter holidays. For more information or to find out what walking events are taking place near you, visit closertohomewalks.org.uk.

Mitchell Arts Centre – Now Open

The Mitchell Arts Centre is one of the city’s most loved arts and theatre spaces. It has been completely refurbished, bringing it into the

21st century as a stunning creative space, offering a wide range of arts and cultural facilities to the community. To find out what’s on

The North Staffordshire African Caribbean Association holds a range of regular events, activities and workshops for the whole community, including concerts, exhibitions and cultural awareness sessions. They will be holding a series of events during Black History Month, which takes place in October 2012. For more information, call 01782 267888 or visit norsaca.co.uk.

Community Activities at Sandon Business, Enterprise and Arts College

Sandon Business, Enterprise and Arts College, in Meir, currently offers a wide range of out of hours activities for adults and juniors. These include Zumba, keep fit classes; badminton; football and adult learning. For a full programme of activities, please visit sandonbec.com and click on the Community tab or contact Ann Charnock on 01782 377111 or email acharnock@sandonmail.com.

Charity events to raise money for the Dougie Mac

Click here to see a full list of fundraising events organised to raise money for the local Douglas Macmillan Hospice.